Detroit Shock Weekly Update
August 1, 2005 - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Detroit Shock News Release
AN ALL-STAR TRADE
Detroit Shock Head Coach and Director of Player Personnel Bill Laimber announced that the team has acquired Minnesota Lynx guard Katie Smith and Minnesota's 2006 second round draft pick in exchange for Chandi Jones, Stacey Thomas, and Detroit's 2006 first round draft pick. "Katie brings a toughness, a work ethic, and a style of leadership to our ball club that will push our younger players to improve on both ends of the floor," said Coach Laimbeer. Smith is in her seventh season in the WNBA all of which have been played with the Lynx. She was signed by the WNBA and allocated to Minnesota on May 3, 1999. She brings career averages of 17.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists to Detroit, and was averaging 13.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.7 assists through 22 games (22 starts) for the Lynx in 2005.
The shock dealt the Connecticut sun their first home loss
The sun had won the past 10 home games and had a 15 home game winning streak from last season until Saturday when the Shock broke that streak. Deanna Nolan scored 19 points and Plenette Pierson added 17 points to the 75-66 final score. Elaine Powell finished with 14 points and helped the team with five assists. Cheryl Ford dominated the boards with 13 rebounds and added 11 points. ``I think our heart played a role today,'' Coach Laimbeer said. ``We played really hard from start to finish and we did what we needed to do. We controlled the glass and we were very patient, and that was the key to the ball game.''
SHOCK RALLY PAST MERCURY
In their first game with guard Katie Smith the Detroit Shock made a come back after being down 34-26 at halftime. The game started off rough with 14 turnovers in the first half. "The turnovers just fry my brain," coach Bill Laimbeer said. "But we overcame it and if we take care of the ball, we should beat teams pretty well." Kara Braxton lead the team in scoring with 16 points, 12 of which came from the second half. For the second night in a row Cheryl Ford dominated the boards with 10 rebounds and added 8 points to the 66-63 final score.
MORE SHOCK GIVEAWAYS
The first 3,000 fans will receive a WNBA Basketball CD case, courtesy of Best Buy when the Detroit Shock takes on New York Liberty at home on Sunday August 7th.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW:
DATE OPPONENT LOCATION/TIME FINAL SCORE LEADING SCORER
Saturday, July 30 Connecticut Sun Connecticut; 1:00 PM 75-66 Nolan, 19
Sunday, July 31 Phoenix Mercury Auburn Hills MI; 5:00 PM 66-63 Braxton, 16
*- Indicates Preseason game
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